hALloWeEn oN mAcK

This is our 4th Halloween in this house and the second time we have closed off our street for a block party. Every year is just getting better and better. Jax and Brinkley teamed up this year for their costumes. I swear some people are a little too judgemental and should keep their stupidity and comments to themselves. Other than that.. we had a wonderful night with a few friends and some of our neighbors.

Poor Brinkley had an allergic reaction to the glue that we used to apply her bloody cuts but I am hoping, by Monday, the rash will be gone. As for Pudgie... our little Bumblebee was the best one out there. I did see one other one but he did not have the helmet or the arm gun. That helmet made the outfit. It was awesome the way it made Pudgie's vocals sound mechanical. Even Daddy had to play with it! I do have to say that I love the fact that my kids begged us to go home after two blocks. They were bored trick or treating and wanted to play. It is awesome that they would rather spend the night playing outside with their friends rather than going house to house to get as much candy as humanly possible.

Smores, Trish's amazing pumpkin cake roll with cream cheese frosting and almond teuqila on the rocks made for awesome treats for the night while all the crumb-snatchers had little tricks up their sleeves to make us laugh.

Now, onto Christmas. Yep, you read that correctly. No Thanksgiving decor for this house. I am going straight to Christmas without passing go or collecting $200.00 and I plan on staying in Christmas mode until the day after Christmas, at the very least.
This last photo is my buddy Beth. She is pregnant with baby #8. Yes, number 8! And, she is due in 24 days. So cute! Thanks for coming and hanging with us!

1989

My 20 year class reunion was last night. I himmed and hawed about going and finally relented. Tommy did not want to go. He had the perfect out with Pudgie's massive ear infection and Binky still working on her vertigo subsiding. I did not want to go without him. He finally gave in and we met Susan and Melissa for an evening of the "unknown." I am not sure what I expected from my reunion but it really did not live up to any expectations. I am just glad I got to hold hands with the love of my life and hang with Susan and Melissa laughing until someones panties came off.

Last night I realized:

*20 years flew by in the blink of my eye

*I was able to sit with two "old" friends and laugh like time has stood still.

*They are both seriously, two of the most beautiful women, inside and out, that I have ever met and still have the privilege of knowing!

*Women took their husbands, men conveniently "forgot" their wives, jackasses I tell you....

*The "HOT" guys from high school ~ WHAT THE HELL KIND OF TASTE DID I HAVE BACK THEN?

*The "PRETTY" girls ~ pretty much......all have "slow" metabolisms now! (Is that kinder Tommy?)

*Some people never change... thankfully, some finally did

*I paid too much to sit and reminisce

*With the exception of Susan and Melissa, I can go another 20 without seeing these people again

*I married a lot later than 95% of my classmates

*I waited even longer than most to have kids... some have 20 year olds and one has a set of 21 year old twins!

*I am one of the very few that have been married only one time.... and then stayed married. One woman had 5 hubby's under her belt!!

*My class consists mainly of: Cops, firefighters, or criminals... sad, I know!

*There are a lot of people that really never grow up

*Once again, tonight showed me how lucky I am for the family I have and the life I live

~THE SPLENDOR RECAP~

I can't find words to describe the amazing vacation we had. Tommy and I had time together, alone, with each child individually, in pairs, and in triplicate. It was the best time ever. We have discovered numerous things about ourselves this trip:

Each and every person in this family sucks at cruising at some point in time

BEFORE: It is Pudgie. He had a horrible breakdown as we were walking the gangway onto the ship the first day and for about 20 minutes after we had boarded. He was awesome after that until Cabo when we boarded the small boat and with it being next to the Splendor he feared we were going to be squished!

DURING: It is my two biggest boys. Jax suffered the most. 4 out of 7 days he got some type of sea sickness. Never, "too bad," but enough to make him lay down one afternoon. Tommy does not do well in tropical storms. Especially after he has eaten breakfast.

AFTER: Binky and I get vertigo after a cruise. So far it has lasted 5 1/2 days and has only subsided a little for me. She has been living with a constant headache since we got home but new medication should fix it today. I was literally unable to stand up the first two days we were home. Tommy and Jax love this feeling on land.

Our entire family agrees that 24 hour room service ROCKS!

I am the only one who could really appreciate 24 hour maid service

I could sleep 24 hours a day on a boat because of the rocking. But only on the balcony with the fresh sea air blowing on me

Brinkley could too if it weren't for the fact that she has to explore every nook and cranny a ship has... even "crew only" areas. (That's my girl!!)

Jax can bargain anyone down on anything.....even stuff he refuses to buy afterwards!

Pudgie is lost without his big brother by his side

It scares me to death how people fall in love with Brinkley and remember who she is after meeting her one time..... and then commenting on her over and over again to me, in the strangest of places...Cabo, a casino, on a beach in Mazatlan, waiting for a cheesburger......

The jewelry Brinkley and I share is so unique people from all over the world offer to buy it because they have, "never seen something like that before!"

Brinkley is my dare devil "off" land. Parasailing was a breeze for her. Jet ski riding freaked her out to the verge of tears for fear of sharks. Zip lining is on our, "things to do list," next time we take this trip!

Tommy and I overpacked. Rephrase.. I overpacked myself, the kids and then Tommy!

We all hate humidity!

The beach is all three crumb-snatchers favorite place on earth to play

I still hate sand, no matter how beautiful the water or area

Jax can sniff out 14kt gold charms if they are within a mile of him!

Pudgie thinks the salt from a margarita is "sgusting" (disgusting) and I have to agree!

Jax loves virgin pina coladas

Jax and Binky are much more aware of the price of things since they had to pick and choose what they could buy, with their own money, on this trip!

Jax understands what it really means to: "want" or "need"

We all realize how fortunate we are to HAVE

No matter where we are, my kids still love to snuggle at night.... even if the three of them are on a twin bed!

A waterslide, on the top of a ship, can be kinda freaky to ride down while in the middle of the ocean

I can't trust anyone to launder my clothes right. I paid to have our laundry done on the ship, only to have it smell like chemicals... so I had to re-wash 13 loads of clean laundry when we got home!

I had no problem letting Jax and Brinkley wander the Splendor together without adult supervision. Tommy had a difficult time warming up to this......and never really got over it!

Talking dirty to slot machines makes people think you are crazy.....even your own husband....until you win over $1500.00 from that "pretty girl...that's right baby...show me the money!!" It probably didn't help I was fondeling it too...

RAIN ON A CRUISE SHIP IS SEXY

Kissing my husband on that cruise ship, in the rain, EVEN SEXIER!

THIS IS THE FIRST OF MANY CRUISES THIS FAMILY IS PLANNING TO TAKE!!!

FINALLY:

No matter where we go on vacation as a family, there is still no place like home! (I just wish the maid would come leave little mints on my pillow! Is that really too much to ask?)

BRING ON CABO~

DAY SIX WAS ONTO CABO SAN LUCAS!

Once again, we debarked the ship with no real plans. We were all pretty tired from Mazatlan so we slept in too late to go to the beach, which devastated the kids. We chose to do a glass bottom boat ride and on to some shopping. All in all, we were some what dis-satisfied with Cabo. The only reason I say this is because we did not have enough time there. It was evil hot and even more so humid. I think that if we had 10 hours of play time here, we would have fallen madly in love with the beautiful water and phenomenal beaches we saw!! Once back on the ship, it was nap time for all and then on to parties in the Camp Carnival kids areas! This was quite the hit, since Jax and Binky were allowed out until 3:30 in the morning! So while Pudgie and the kids had fun doing things like this......Mommy and Daddy had fun in the casino winning this...One more day and night at sea (with another tropical storm) and we were more than ready to head home.
You know it is a small world when your new found friend on a cruise to a foreign country lives almost next door to your Grammie!!!
We are all fighting off vertigo, ear infections and overtiredness still, but would not trade this vacation for anything in the world!!

Still Cruisin'

NEXT STOP:
MAZATLAN!
With only the beach and sun on our minds for today, we quickly got off the ship and headed to Pancho's Restaurant. This is the most famous restaurant in Mazatlan and Tommy found out why when he and my Mom shared the Coconut Shrimp. We spent the entire day on the beach.

Brinkley and I did this together.Then Tommy and Jax did this:While Binky and I did this....Pudgie was content on the beach with his shovel and bucket but loved playing tag with the waves until he got knocked on his tushie at one point. He went right back in yelling at the waves and shaking his little fist. Gotta love this kids spunk.The vendors were never ending on the beach and finally became annoying to the point that it was time to leave.There is a really funny story behind this mask, that yes, we did bring home...so if you want to know it, just ask, but I refuse to post it on here!! (Ahem Tommy!)

We ate lunch at Pancho's, where everyone actually ate their real mexican food, Tommy and Jax fell in love with their coconut shrip that tasted like cinnabon cream over shrip...magnificent, we found an amazing jewelry shop for me and Binky to buy our one of a kind treasures from Mazatlan at, and we made it back to the safety of the ship in one tired piece.I must say, Tommy was not the happiest man in the world with the wanna be taxies we squished into and rode to and from the beach in. No windows, no seatbelts, two kids on my lap, and everyone yelling with laughter did not make for a happy camper of a POLICEMAN Daddy, but there was little we could really do about it so he bit his tongue and watched his kiddos laugh with glee at all the sights!!(Shawni, I had to nab this photo from your blog because we did not take an actual photo of the taxi's!! I hope you don't mind!!)

Thankfully, no one got sunburned during our 7 hours on the beach and we all found Mazatlan to be amazing!

ONTO OUR NEXT STOP ~ CABO SAN LUCAS!!